Data networks contain various network devices, such as switches, for sending and receiving data between two locations. For example, frame relay and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (“ATM”) networks contain interconnected network devices that allow data packets or cells to be channeled over a circuit through the network from a host device to a remote device. For a given network circuit, the data from a host device is delivered to the network through a physical circuit such as a T1 line that links to a switch of the network. The remote device that communicates with the host through the network also has a physical circuit to a switch of the network. A network circuit also includes a logical circuit which includes a variable communication path for data between the switches associated with the host and the remote device.
In large-scale networks, the host and remote end devices of a network circuit may be connected across different local access and transport areas (“LATAs”) which may in turn be connected to one or more Inter-Exchange Carriers (“IEC”) for transporting data between the LATAs. These connections are made through physical trunk circuits utilizing fixed logical connections known as Network-to-Network Interfaces (“NNIs”).
Periodically, failures may occur to the trunk circuits or the NNIS of network circuits in large-scale networks causing lost data. Currently, such network circuit failures are handled by dispatching technicians on each end of the network circuit (i.e., in each LATA) in response to a reported failure. The technicians manually access a logical element module to troubleshoot the logical circuit portion of the network circuit. The logical element module communicates with the switches in the data network and provides the technician with the status of the logical connections which make up the logical circuit. Once the technician determines the status of a logical connection at one end of a logical circuit (e.g., the host end), the technician then must access a network database to determine the location of the other end of the logical circuit so that its status may also be ascertained. If the technician determines the logical circuit is operating properly, the technician then accesses a physical element module to troubleshoot the physical circuit portion of the network circuit to determine the cause of the failure and then repair it. If, while troubleshooting a network circuit, the technician determines that a network circuit will be “down” (i.e., losing data) for an extended time period, the technician may manually reroute the data from a failed network circuit to an available unused or “backup” network circuit while the failed network circuit is being repaired.
Current methods of repairing network circuits, however, do not include tracking of rerouted network circuits. For example, while repairing a network circuit, data may be rerouted to a backup circuit having an identification which is different than the original network circuit which failed. In order to access this information, a technician would be required to manually access the network database to lookup the identification of the failed network circuit and cross-reference this information with data obtained from the logical element module to identify the backup circuit used for rerouting network circuit data. Moreover, there is currently no way to monitor or track the performance of backup network circuits over time such that underperforming or over-utilized backup circuits may be identified.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.